Smarti Understands
by Someone Stole My Cookie
Summary: DASEY:: She understood more than any of them; she understood that they were alive together; or dead together. She understood. Smerek told her that. R&R PLEASE!


**Smarti Understands**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**A/N: Okay…I tried writing another chapter for each of my stories but I have major writer's block for each of them. So here's another one-shot. R&R PLESAE!!**

_**Derek's POV**_

"I admit, what I did was out of line; I tried to apologize but…Okay, you're probably wondering what the hell I'm talking about. So let's just start at the beginning."

_-----------_

"_That's so unfair! You _always _get the shower first!" Casey said as she and Derek stood in front of the bathroom door. Derek just stood there and rolled his eyes._

"_Point?" He asked before shoving her and going into the bathroom. She let out a frustrated yell as he slammed the door in her face. As he undressed he let out a long breath. "Damn…I'm gonna need to take a cold shower." He muttered to himself as he turned the right knob on the faucet all the way up._

_He was really starting to get annoyed with the thoughts that crossed his mind whenever he and Casey fought. They way her nostrils flared; the way she looked flushed; the angry, mischievous glint in her eyes that always looked so wild and unleashed; the way she said his name._

_Yeah; that last one definitely got to him. It took a lot of willpower on his behalf to not throw her against a wall and…well the point is clear and a definition isn't required to finish that statement._

_-----------_

"The fact is; this had started two weeks ago and she was beginning to drive me insane. It isn't my fault I was forced into a hotel room with her for a week. It isn't my fault the girl is so damn hot. So I said we'd start at the beginning."

"News flash! The beginning isn't the point at where I drool over Casey McDonald. The beginning is where she tortures me with a purple bikini."

_-----------_

"_A week. I'm stuck in a confined space with a hygiene hazard for a whole freaking week!" Casey cried. "And it's only been a _day_!" She whined, plopping down on her bed._

"_An _excruciating _day, might I add." Derek mumbled. Throwing himself onto his own bed._

"_Ooh; Derek learned a new word!" Casey spat out and Derek rolled his eyes._

"_Kids! We're going to the pool on the roof, hurry up or we'll be forced to drag you there. Kicking and screaming." George's voice came in through the door and the two teens groaned._

"_Great!" The yelled back sarcastically. Casey jumped off the bed and ran to her suitcase. After pulling out a new bathing suit Emily insisted she buy she ran to the bathroom._

"_Ha!" She yelled as she scrambled to close the door. Derek watched with interest before he burst with laughter._

"_Woo! That was worth giving her the bathroom first." He said; tiny hints of laughter lacing with his words. A couple of minutes later she was still in the bathroom and Derek sighed impatiently. "Casey, hurry up!" He whined and she let out a breath._

"_I've got a slight problem." She confessed, turning beat red as she popped her head out of the door. Derek rolled his eyes._

"_What?" He asked impatiently. Her cheeks darkened and she looked at the floor._

"_I can't tie the back of this." She said, stepping out of the bathroom, revealing a tight, dark purple bikini. She was holding the top up by her sides, continuing to blush. "Can you help me?" She asked. He snapped out of his stupor and nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat. She turned around, exposing her back and neck to him. He took the strings, knowing that if he dropped them, down the bikini top would go._

_And seriously? He actually had to think of whether or not he would do it._

_-----------_

_**Casey's POV**_

"Hold up! You never told me that!"

"Well, now you know." Derek said, rolling his eyes.

"Nuh-uh. So not fair. I had to tell him what I was _really _thinking when I did that! Hello?! I could've turned it around, tied it, and then put it on properly. But no, I had to tell him that as his clumsy fingers moved across my back, I thought about how it was the most adorable thing ever."

"Hey! My fingers are _not _clumsy!" Derek protested, pointing a finger at the camera. I roll my eyes.

"Sure Derek. You know what? I didn't say a word during your time to speak, so could you keep quiet?" He mimics me and I roll my eyes again. "Just shut it."

"You may not have been talking; but you were-" I hold up a hand to stop him.

"Finish that sentence and it'll never happen again. Besides, that little…_incident _is beside the point." He rolls his eyes.

"Right; and the point is, you purposefully made me drool. That's just cruel." He says and I roll my eyes.

"Can we just continue? I'll get him later for contemplating whether or not to drop my shirt on the floor." I mumble, shooting a glare at Derek. The crowd erupts with applause and Derek rolls his eyes.

_-----------_

_So they actually got to the pool, minus George dragging them…not so much minus the kicking._

"_Would you stop that?" Derek scolded quietly and Casey continuously kicked his ankle._

"_No." She said; a smile on her lips. He rolled his eyes, avoiding any glances at her chest. __**Stupid revealing bikini.**__ He thought bitterly. She kicked him again and he glared at her. She looked away innocently and he rolled his eyes, concealing his smile. __**Why the hell does she have to be so damn cute?**_

"_Stop!" He yelled just as the elevator door opened. Casey's eyes widened as all eyes were on her and Derek. She blushed and scurried out of the elevator. He shook his head and walked out. Only to be stopped by a guy unknown to him._

"_Dude…that looked really weird." He admitted, chuckling slightly. Derek shrugged._

"_Yeah, it probably did." He said, smirking and shaking his head. "In all honesty, I was just telling her to stop kicking my ankle." Derek explained and the guy laughed._

"_Yeah…didn't really look like that." He said. Derek nodded._

"_I figured." Derek mumbled._

"_Well; just so you know: there are about twenty guys ogling your girlfriend." He said and Derek looked at Casey as she stepped out of her denim shorts and headed into the pool; adjusting her bikini bottoms. Derek constricted for letting out a low whistle._

"_Yeah…thanks for that. I'll probably have to burn that thing after." Derek admitted, chuckling quietly. The guy laughed and turned away after waving goodbye. Casey caught Derek's eye and waved, motioning him to go into the water. He took off his shirt and walked in towards her._

"_Who was that?" She asked._

"_I don't know; he just told me that a bunch of guys were staring at my girlfriend…meaning you. I didn't get a chance to tell him we were step-sibs." He lied easily and she nodded. She leaned into the water, her chest, knees and face only remaining on the water. Derek looked away, not wanting to be held responsible of any actions he took if he looked at her wet body._

_-----------_

"See? More things I didn't know about!" I say and he rolls his eyes for the umpteenth time.

"You know what? How about I explain all the things I didn't tell you at home? Stop interrupting!" He says and I stick my tongue out.

"And…you assure us that this is a healthy relationship?" The host asks and Derek and I nod without hesitation.

"It's normal." We say simultaneously. The host of the talk show nods, still confused and the crowd chuckles quietly.

"Alright…can we skip this? I mean, the rest of the week was basically me making Derek drool. Wearing tight bathing suits; sleeping in short-shorts and tight tank tops; walking around the room in tiny robes and wet hair…" I count off dramatically until Derek puts his hand over my mouth.

"Okay…moving on to why we're here." He says, glaring at the smirking and gaping guys in the audience as I flip my hair. "Can you honestly blame me, though? Look at her! She's just flouncing herself in front of me and all the other guys. And listen now because I won't be so understanding later; stop staring at her legs, chest and butt. If I could swear…I would. But Casey'll hit me; so I won't." I smile and pinch his cheek.

"Good boy." He sticks his tongue out in distaste and I kiss his cheek while laughing. The crowd and host all sound with "aw"-s and Derek kisses my cheek. This only causes more gushing.

"Well; isn't that so _cute_?" The host asks dramatically and the crowd explodes with applauses. "Alright; let's continue with this scoop. What happened and what did you say?" The host asks and Derek inhales deeply.

_-----------_

_More little bits of arguing and bickering, but that was normal. The day went on._

"_Casey…I think Dylan wants to talk to you alone." Emily said, winking and motioning to the cute blonde boy at the water fountain waving at Casey. Casey smiled at Emile and walked over._

"_Hey." She said and he smirked. __**Why is it that these boys think they have cute smirks? The only boy I know who does is Derek.**_

"_So…it's Casey, right?" Casey nodded, flipping her hair._

"_Dylan Dyke, isn't it?" __**Wait a minute…Dyke?**__ Casey couldn't hold back a quiet chuckle and Dylan looked at her with pride. __**Huh-oh! He thinks I'm laughing at something he said! PFFT!**_

"_So…you wanna go out this Friday?" He asked, acting cool by leaning on the fountain._

"_Um…okay…" She said and he smirked. From a distance Derek was watching and scowled. She was putting her hand on Dylan's chest and laughing flirtatiously. He walked away only to bump into her a few minutes later._

"_Hey Derek…are you okay?" She asked, scrunching her eyebrows together. He looked away. Lately…he was coming way too close to doing something he'd regret. "Derek?" She tried to catch his gaze but he refused to look into her eyes. Finally; she just gripped his chin and forced him to look into her eyes. "What's wrong?" She asked and he exhaled deeply._

"_You." He answered simply before crashing his lips to hers. He felt her kiss him back forcefully. But as long as he had wanted this; he pulled away. His lips were tingling and begging for more contact but he spun on his heal and walked away. Muttering one last word to himself._

"_Slut."_

_-----------_

_**Derek's POV**_

Gaps fill the studio and I look at Casey. She's looking at me with wide eyes; tears building up quickly as her eyes plead with me to be joking.

"Ooh…what did you think of this Casey?" The host asks and I cringe. Anger fills Casey's eyes as they become dark.

"I thought what I think now; Derek Venturi is an asshole; and I never want to speak to him again." She says, letting angry and sad tears spill over her cheeks as she stands up and swiftly leaves the premises.

"Casey!" I call after her but she keeps running. "Casey!" I call, running after her.

"Um…I guess we'll have some audience…" The host's voice died out as I kept running after Casey. About ten minutes later, I find her on a bench at a bus stop.

"Casey…look; I'm sorry. But it's the past…I thought we went through this already." I say and she remains quiet. "Case, I'm sorry. You know I didn't mean it." I say, taking her hand but she pulls it away. "Case…"

"No; I don't know that." She says. "I don't _know _you. I thought I did. But I guess I was wrong." She says before standing up and walking away.

_**General POV**_

"Casey; I told you I like you…why would I do that if I thought you were a slut?" Derek asks and she whips around.

"Idiot! Every girl you date is a slut; why should I be any different?" Casey asks, more tears falling.

"But you aren't just any girl, Case! You mean more to me than them!" He calls as she crosses the street. "Casey, listen to me!" He calls out and she keeps going. As she reached the middle of the street her eyes widen as a car approaches her. She's hit and next that Derek knows, he's crouched over her, holding her lifeless body as his tears fall.

"I love you. I love you, Casey." He whispers, cradling her head and rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet as the hot tears fell from his eyes. "I love you."

_**Five Days Later**_

He watched as the casket was lowered into the ground. Familiar tears streamed down his face as the world around him moved but he stayed lost in one moment. White roses were scattered in large piles along the dark wood. Nora rested a hand on his shoulder and he threw his rose on top of the casket. One pink rose in the midst of a hundred white ones. Nora and George steered him away from the burial and led him away.

"She's in a better place, Derek." Nora whispered. He looked over and saw tears flowing down her sorrow filled features. "My poor baby." She wept quietly and glanced back at the burial. "She led a good life; she deserved to live it." She whispered as they continued to walk. Derek continued to walk, everything else being tuned out after that point.

_**A Week Later**_

"Daddy, Smerek cares! He loved Casey!" Marti yelled at her father, who had accused Derek of not caring about the death of Casey. "Don't you see?! He's hurting more than _any _of us! He stares at her picture and _cries_, Daddy!" Marti screeched then ran up to her room.

--

Derek sat at the grave.

"Only a few more minutes, Baby. I promise." He whispered as he felt consciousness slowly slipping away.

_Casey McDonald_

_1991-2008_

_A loving daughter, student_

_And friend_

His eyes drifted and the last thing he heard or felt was the wind rustling. And a soothing voice.

"I love you, too." The wind died down, the voice was gone; and with one last breath, so was Derek.

_**Five Days Later**_

"He committed suicide to be with her; two of them gone in less than a month." Nora said, more tears falling. George rubbed her back and Edwin, Lizzie and Marti all stood together; hand in hand in hand. Their grips were tight, so tight their knuckles were slowly turning white.

"They're together." George whispered. "They're happy together; we need to respect that." He whispered soothingly. She let out a sob.

"So young…they were so young." She said as they walked away. Marti threw in a red rose, followed by Edwin and Lizzie.

"Are you okay Marti?" Lizzie asked and Marti smiled sadly.

"I love my Smerek; but he loved Casey a lot. I would be hurting him if I kept him with me. It's okay." She said and Lizzie and Edwin envied her. She was young and mature beyond her years.

She understood more than any of them; she understood that they were alive together; or dead together. She understood. Smerek told her that.

And so she understood.

_Casey McDonald_

_1991-2008_

_A loving daughter, student, friend_

_Sister __and girlfriend_

_--_

_Derek Venturi_

_1991-2008_

_A loving son, teammate, friend_

_Brother and boyfriend_

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**A/N: Okay, this ended completely differently than I had planned. Hopefully, that's a good thing. REVIEW PLEASE!!!!!**


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